Ner-alteneck



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

' P. VON HEFNER-ALTENEOK.

ELECTRICAL REGISTERING DEVICE.

No. 513,612. Patented Jan. 30, 1894.

DDSDDUGUDUIZUDEUIZIIZDCJU:

INVENTOR ATTORNEY WITNESSES:

l HONAL umoenmnq COMPANY,

ASHINGT N, o. c.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets- Sheet 2] P. VON HEPNER-ALTENEGK. ELECTRICAL REGISTERING DEVICE.

No. 513,612. Patented Jan. 30, 1894.

WITNESSES: IN VENT 0R ATTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT OEErcE.

FRIEDRICH VON HEFNER-ALTENEOK, OF BERLIN, GERMANY, ASSIGNOR TO SIEMENS dc HALSKE, OF SAME PLACE.

ELECTRICAL REGISTERING DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 513,612, dated January 30, 1894. Application filed November 3, 1893. Serial No.489,899. (N0 model.) Patented in Germany March 31, 1884, No. 30,287; in Belgium April 22, 1884, No. 64,898; in Austria-Hungary April 22, 1884, No.

15,821 and No. 31,784, and in France July 21, 1884,1Io-

T0 at whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRIEDRICH VON HEE- NER-ALTENEOK, a subject of the King of Bavaria, residing at the city of Berlin, in the German Empire, have invented new and useful Improvements in Electrical Registering Devices, (for which I have obtained Letters Patent in Germany, No. 30,287, dated March 31, 1884; in France, No. 163,412, dated July 21, 1884; in Belgium, No. 64,898, dated April 22, 1884, and in Austria-Hungary, No. 15,821 and No. 31,734, dated April 22, 1884,) of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to apparatus for recording electrical signals, which apparatus is especially adapted for use in controlling the movements of railway trains, and consists of means for registering upon a strip of moving paper by means of perforations the signals transmitted by the closing of an electric circuit.

In electrical recording apparatus as heretofore constructed, certain difficulties have been encountered in printing or recording characters that would be legible and durable, and also in the operation of the apparatus. In apparatus in which the signals are recorded in relief by a stylus acting upon a moving tape or strip, as in the Morse relief print apparatus, the force with which the stylus must press upon the tape is necessarily quite considerable, and frequently acts to stop the clock-work that draws the tape forward. Besides, owing to variations in thickness of the paper tape employed, &O., the relief record is not well defined and this record is frequently pressed flat and rendered illegible by the guiding rolls through which the paper must pass. Again with such apparatus the rapidity of operation necessary cannotbe maintained.

In a registering apparatus where the signal is printed, as in the Morse devices, it is found practically impossible, even if the apparatus is carefully kept in order, to produce characters of different lengths, as the paper tape is not always absolutely regular; and besides it is necessary to constantly watch the apparatus to see that the ink is in proper condition.

In apparatus which use pins to perforate the paper there is the objection that the record may be imitated by the use of an ordinary pin. The defects above recounted are eliminated by my improved apparatus, which I shall now describe.

Referring to the accompanying drawings which illustrate my invention, and in which similar characters of reference indicate like parts, Figure 1 is a perspective view of one form of my apparatus. Fig. 2 shows front and side elevations of the perforating knives. Fig. 3 is a plan view of a perforated tape, showing the signal characters recorded thereon, and Figs. 4 and 5 are views showing modifications of my apparatus, in which the movements of the recording knives are slightly retarded so as to increase the length of the record character.

Referring first to Fig. 1, 5 indicates a suitable case containing a clock-train and clock, the face of the clock being shown at 6. The clock-train actuates the gear 7, which in turn rotates a drum 8 over which the tape 9 to be perforated is carried. A lever 10, pivoted at one end of the front of the case and normally retracted by the spring 19, acts as a vibratory armature to the electro-magnets 11,11. Therecording knife 12 is adjustably mounted upon the end of this armature lever. The tape 9 is provided with a central line of equidistant perforations 13, which engage the projecting pins or studs 14 on the periphery of the drum 8, whereby when the drum is rotated the paper is fed forward step-bystep. The tape has imprinted thereon Arabic numerals 15 and Roman numerals 16 corresponding to the minutes and hours indicated upon the face of the clock. The perforating recording knife 12 is arranged with its cutting edge transverse to the direction of movement of the tape. Hence when an electric current passes through the magnets 11, 11,the armature 10 is attracted and drawn forcibly down, thus causing the knife 12 to cut through the tape 9 and continue cutting as long as the armature lever is attracted. A sharp cut is produced by providing the enlargement of the armature lever with a projecting lip 10" which shortens the distance between the armature and the poles of the electro-magnet and thus renders the action of the armature lever sharper and more sensitive. This sensitive movement is accentuated by a spring 17 mounted upon the armature lever, and engaging a contact screw 18 includedin the circuit. The upward movement of the armature lever is produced by means of the retracting spring 19, the tension of which is adjustable by means of screw 20. This movement is effected immediately after the cutting of the paper by the recording knife. If the circuit through the apparatus is closed at a point remote therefrom, and the record character to be registered upon the tape is of longer period than that made by the actuation of the knife by a single make-and-break of the circuit, rapidly succeeding continuous cuts are made as long as the circuit is kept closed. These cuts are so close together on the slowly actuated tape that the thin paper slips between the two cuts are carried away by the knives, thus forming characters that are rectangular in shape and of a length corresponding to the time of closing of the circuit at a determined point.

In order that the record may be properly and perfectly made, it is advantageous to have the recording knife close to a plate 21 lying beneath the tape. This knife is formed with either a straight or a curved edge sloping in the direction of rotation of the feed drum.

Instead of using a knife, a dull instrument may be employed that first punches ahole in the tape and then enlarges the hole to form the record character. The edge of the knife may also be beveled, as shown in Fig. 2, to give a slanting out to the tape.

While in general the recording knife is designed to be operated by electro-magnetic attraction and automatic closing of the circuit by a circuit-maker at a distant point, the circuit through the apparatus may be kept closed and the interruptions thereof registered by reversing the relation of thearmature lever to the electro-magnet, by the addition of relays, or the employment of similar electro-telegraphic means.

Instead of producing simple cuts in the moving tape by the action of the recording knife, these characters are made longer and the apparatus is made more sensitive by prolonging the contact in the following manner: On the lever 10 (Fig. 4) is mounted a ratchet wheel 22 having a trip 22 adapted to engage a gravity switch lever 23 pivoted to the frame of the apparatus and normally raise the same from the contact 24:.

Upon the first descent of the lever 10, when, by the connection of the line with the ground, the electro-magnet 11 receives the current, the switch 23 contacts with 24, whereby the circuit from the battery is closed through the electro-magnet 11 and binding post 18, spring 17, armature lever 10, switch 23, and contact 24. Upon the return movement of the armature lever 10 produced by the breaking of the circuit between binding post 18 and contact spring 17 the ratchet wheel 22 will be turned by the ratchet 22 one tooth and hence the switch 23 will not be raised from the contact 24. The ratchet Wheel is thereupon actuated by the oscillations of the armature lever in consequence of the closing of the circuit through contact 24 by the switch 23, until the trip 22 breaks the contact between 24 and switch 23. As the switch lever 23 is weighted, as before remarked, it acts upon the armature lever 10.50 that a very weak current will be sufficient to cause the first descent of saidlever 10. As the automatic throwing of the switch 23 closes a circuit through the apparatus in which there is no line resistance, the armature lever and its recording cutting tool operate very energetically and with great sensitiveness until the trip 22 and its ratchet wheel have made a full revolution, when said trip raises the switch lever, thus breaking the circuit and stopping the oscillation of the armature lever and the recording tool.

In the modification shown in Fig. 5, the ratchet wheel and detent are secured upon the main frame of the apparatus instead of upon the armature lever, and the ratchet 22 is secured to the armature lever, the position of these parts being exactly the reverse of that described above. The operation is substantially the same with the exception that the gravity switch does not exert any pressure upon the armature lever.

With each of the forms of apparatus described herein a switch device is employed to short-circuit the electro-magnet, and thus prevent damage to the recording tool if the tape should break or give out. This switch is shown at 30 in the form of a guide for the tape. As soon as the insulating tape 9, which normally prevents passage of the currentfrom the feed drum 21 to the switch guide 30, passes from between the switch and said drum, the switch and the drum contact, and a circuit is closed through the binding post 18, armature lever 10, drum 21', switch 30 and wire 31, that short circuits the electromagnet 11 and stops the apparatus.

Each of the ratchet wheels may, if desired, be provided with two or more tripping arms 22*, regularly spaced, in order to vary the lengths of the characters formed by the recording tool.

Several series of records may be made upon one tape, as shown in Fig. 3, by duplicating the cutting tool and its operating devices.

While the apparatus described is especially intended for use in automatically recording the movements of trains by the closing of the circuit to the recording tool from distant railway stations-e. g., in the manner described in my Patent No. 495,674 of April 18, 1893, it is also applicable for other uses, such as the copying of telegrams by the reproduction in the manner above described, of the Morse characters.

I claim- 1. An electrical recording apparatus, comprising a generator; an electro-magnetically actuated recording tool operated by the making or breaking of said circuit; a time-indicating clock-train mechanism; a regularlyspaced, time-indicating tape adapted to be moved synchronously with the time-indicating mechanism and punctured by the recording tool; and a switch adapted to automatically short-circuitthe recording tool upon the breaking or giving out of the tape, substantially as described.

2. In an electrical recording apparatus, the combination with a generator and a normallyopen line circuit therefrom; of a normallyopen local circuit also connected with said generator; a gravity switch in the local circuit; a recording device common to both circuits and adapted to close the local circuit upon the passage of aline current; a contactprolonging device actuated by said recording device; and a device adapted to automatically open the local circuit switch after a predetermined period of actuation of the contactprolonging device, substantially as described.

3. In an electrical recording apparatus, the combination with a generator and a normallyopen line circuit therefrom; of a normallyopen local circuit also connected with said generator; a gravity switch in the local circuit; a recording device common to both circuits; a ratchet-wheel carried by said recording device and actuated thereby; and a trip carried by said ratchet-wheel and normally supporting the gravity switch, but adapted to release the same upon the passage of a line current and re-engage and raise the same after a predetermined number of actuations of the ratchet-wheel.

4. In an electrical recording apparatus, the combination with a generator and a normallyopen line circuit therefrom; of a normallyopen local circuit also connected with said generator; a gravity switch in the local circuit an electro-magnetically actuated recording device common to both circuits; a ratchetwheel carried by said recording device and actuated thereby; and a trip carried by said ratchet-wheel and normally supporting the gravity switch, but adapted to release the same upon the passage of a line current and re-engage and raise the same after a predetermined number of actuations of the ratchetwheel.

5. vIn an electrical recording apparatus, the combination of a generator, an electric circuit therefrom; a recording tool in said circuit and normally operated by said generator; a tape adapted to be punctured by said recording tool; a feed device carrying said tape and normally out of circuit; and a switch adapted to contact with said feed device and automatically short-circuit the recording tool therethrough upon the giving out or breaking of said tape, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

FRIEDRICH VON llEFNER-AL'IENECK.

Witnesses:

MAX WAGNER, GUSTAV S'rENznL. 

